


A Future that Never Was (Part 1)

by Harukami



Series: A Future That Never Was [1]
Category: Camp Fuck You Die, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-27
Updated: 2011-06-27
Packaged: 2017-10-20 18:54:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/216022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harukami/pseuds/Harukami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a post-CFUD AU.  Any characters alive here who weren't in KH canon were because of CFUD. This is also how Roxas and Sora knew each other, Sora got to know the Castle Oblivion Nobodies, etc. During that time, through various machinations, Sora agreed to help as long as it didn't harm anyone or the world.</p><p>Larxene and Marluxia, with Xemnas et al dead and out of the way, do intend to return and restart the Organization THEIR way, and attempt to get the Nobodies whole -- but both have in their own special ways grown attached to a Keyblade wielder or two (Riku and Sora in Larxene's case, Sora and Kairi in Marluxia's) and don't really want to see them hurt. Not that they've raised this topic to the other. Of course, unlike the KH2 cast, little do they know the state the World that Never Was has been brought to....</p><p>Sora, Kairi, and Riku have headed back to Destiny Islands. All three of them wield keyblades with various levels of skill. Namine has mostly-melded with Kairi again, emerging more out of personal choice than a need or much of a want.</p><p>...I guess Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are all in Disney Castle doing Official Castle Business stuff.</p><p>Originally posted to LJ on Sep. 8th, 2006.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Future that Never Was (Part 1)

  
**Promises to Keep**

"If you hurt Sora," Axel says, leaning up real close into Marluxia's face, "Vexen, or whatever's left of him, will feel _complete relief_ that I just _killed_ him."

Marluxia leans back with an expression of some distaste. "Don't be a fool, Axel."

"You see," Axel says, and does this complicated finger dance possibly intended to represent the rise and fall of nations. "This whole using Sora thing? I'm pretty sure that makes you the fool."

"He volunteered to help," Marluxia snaps. "Of his own free will. I'm not an idiot, Axel. Whatever he did to me is _irrelevant now_. Perhaps our reasons are different, but I need him whole and hale and in his own mind as much as you do. What I'm doing here is far too important to ruin it by _letting him get hurt_."

Axel gives him a flat, unimpressed expression. "Marluxia."

Marluxia draws a slow breath in. "Axel," he says. "The Heartless do no good if they simply multiply. They free hearts if the Keyblade Master slays them. Otherwise, they simply reform at a later time."

"No, really, I _know_ all this--"

"I am doing _nothing_ ," Marluxia says, "that is not good. And if all goes well, Axel, even you will have a heart. Even Roxas!"

Axel's eyes half-lid as he glares at Marluxia.

"I am not asking you to help," Marluxia says. "I know well the foolishness of _that_. But stay out of it it, Axel. If I choose to harm him, so be it, do to me as you will, but in the meantime, everyone stands to benefit. Nobodies and humans alike. Do you have such feelings now as to be willing to ruin it for everyone out of spite?"

Axel tilts his head back, grins at him vaguely. "Who, me?"

Marluxia lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Thank you, Axel."

"Oh. Don't thank me," Axel says. He leans forward again after a moment, putting his lips almost on Marluxia's ear. "But in case you forget."

"What's that," Marluxia asks, tensing.

Axel says, smiling at him sharply, "It felt great to kill Vexen, you know? And I did _feel_ him die. So damn easy to cut into a Nobody when they're not expecting it." His hand slides against Marluxia's back. "Like fucking butter. That easy to pass through him. Edges of my chakrams didn't even catch. I heard the sounds his voice made as he died. I felt the bits of nothing trail the hell away, dissolve around my arm and you know what?" He bites Marluxia's ear. "Next time I get the chance to do that, I think I wanna draw it out a bit. Get a chance to enjoy every single jagged scrap as it tears free. Got it memorized?"

"It's crystal clear," Marluxia says, and jerks away from him. "Good day, Axel."

Axel mock-salutes. "Have a nice night, Marly."

  
 **New Paths**

Sora's just about to get into the water when Marluxia appears on the beach. It's a sudden feeling of _wrong no wrong_ at seeing him there and Kairi ducks a little more into the water and Riku rises.

Marluxia only has eyes for Sora. "Keyblade master," he says. "We need you."

Sora looks at him a bit disbelieving. "What, now? But we just got home."

"Yes," Marluxia says. "Now."

"Aww, come on, Marly," he coaxes. "You don't think--"

Marluxia starts to fall and catches himself by digging his scythe hard into the ground.

"--Marly? Marluxia?" Sora comes over, wet feet picking up dry sand as he runs.

"There are Heartless in the castle," Marluxia says, and his voice sounds disbelieving, hurt. "In the Castle that Never Was."

"Um. Yeah?"

"There were never Heartless in the castle but when they were called there," Marluxia says. "Even if the streets swarmed with them, the Castle was inviolate."

Sora looks down and says. "Um. Is there any other place on any other world you can go for now?"

"--What?"

"It might take some work to reclaim the castle," Sora says. And then, abruptly. " _Sorry_."

Marluxia stares at him. "...There's Castle Oblivion," he says.

"Okay," Sora says. "Um, where's Larxene?"

"I don't know. We were separated."

"...Oh," Sora says. He looks around. "Guys, um, just--"

"We're coming with you," Kairi says.

Sora shakes his head. "I'll be back soon, okay? This is something I gave my promise to do. We can -- later."

"Sora," Riku says and he's coming over. "You can't just--"

Marluxia scoops Sora's clothing from the ground, puts the snath of his scythe flat against Sora's chest, and tugs, hauling them both backwards through the dark path.

"--Hey! C'mon, you could at least let me say -- Marluxia?"

Marluxia opens the path into a brilliantly white room. "Stay here. I'm getting Larxene."

"I thought you didn't know where she was," Sora begins to protest.

"I don't," Marluxia says.

Sora grabs his clothing from the floor where Marluxia dropped it. "I'll come with--"

"I will return anon," Marluxia says, and then the dark path vanishes.

Sora looks around at the room so white as to seem almost coloured, brilliant and completely silent, devoid of life.

"Oh," he says, uncertainly, and sits to wait.

 **As I Pass in Thunder**

Marluxia re-emerges into the Castle that Never Was with his scythe already swinging. He can hear a faint whining on the edge of his hearing, and can't quite place it for the throbbing headache he can feel settling in behind his eyes. Heartless part as he swings; it's a temporary measure only, but it'll clear it for the time it takes for darkness to coalesce around the heart again.

It won't be long.

He's exhausted already from his efforts so far, but he needs to keep a constant attack in all directions and so calls down Blossom Shower after Blossom Shower as he runs. "Larxene," he calls, then switches his senses from the human-esque to the Nobody, hearing the susurration of the survivors hidden where they've been able to, mostly just outside of the physical. He draws in energy, projects _Larxene!_.

The answer he gets back is less a response and more a string of incoherent _[expression of rage and irritation]_ that would probably be cursing if she'd spared the effort to form it into words. It's something, though, and he feels his calm edge return again even as it cuts off.

He manages finally to find her in the Hall of Empty Melodies and has to fling himself against a wall, stepping on Shadows as he does so, before she strikes. She's floating in the air, holding herself up by a constant ongoing bolt leaving the swarm below her stunned.

Marluxia draws a deep breath, then gathers his blade close, draws in energy, and Deathscythes into the room, the beam slicing through a path of Heartless. More begin to form almost immediately but Larxene looks over at him, every part of her alight, her eyes bright and the air around her thick with the smell of ozone.

She draws a breath and screams out, "You're late _again_ , Marluxia!"

"My apologies," he says insincerely, and wades in, scythe swinging.

  
 **Shell Shock**

Sora looks back from poking at the hanging birdcage with the extremely creepy Namine doll when there's sudden noise. Marluxia stumbles through the dark gate, hanging half off Larxene, and looking really the worse for wear. Both of them do, but Marluxia's cheek is burned from where it had brushed up against Larxene and.

He starts to go over in a hurry and has to stumble back when the buckles on his clothing start to spark. Larxene glares over, still crackling. Sora can feel the hairs on his arms rising.

"Um," Sora says. "Hey Larxene. You're, uh, leaking."

She bares her teeth, lets Marluxia fall. Marluxia tumbles down in a graceful mess and manages to pick himself up a moment later with great dignity, as if it hadn't just happened.

"Are you okay?" Sora says. "I can cure--"

"You can, can't you?" she mutters. "Good. Do that."

He shifts uneasily. "Yeah, okay," he says, and tries to summon the keyblade. When he gets a deck of cards, he stares at them a bit uncomfortably and sorts through them until he finds the one labelled cure. Weird.

They both shiver when he holds it up and it vanishes from his hand, the green light surrounding them momentarily. They look -- discomfited. But their visible wounds clear up and Marluxia starts to stand a bit straighter.

"There is," Larxene says, "a witch in the castle."

"Huh?" Sora says. And then. "Oh! Yeah, her."

Larxene looks at him.

He winces. "Sorry? But you were all dead, so when she said she'd help because she wanted the castle, I didn't think anyone would mind--"

"We will address this later," Marluxia says sharply before Larxene can start in on him. "We need some time to recuperate."

"Didn't the cure--"

"That helped," Marluxia agrees. "Thank you, Sora."

Larxene has begun to mutter under her breath. Marluxia glances aside. "Larxene," he says. "Perhaps you'd better go see that our living quarters are as we've left them?"

"Yes," she says, brightly. "You know? I think I will."

She vanishes with a flicker of dark energy.

Sora exhales. "Wow," he says. "What got into her?"

  
 **An Address to Mortality**

He doesn't find her in the library, nor the computer room, nor any place he anticipates finding her. Not downstairs kicking Vexen's chair for the hell of it, nor checking that her favourite books are fine, nor -- well.

Instead, when he does find her, it's in the room between floors twelve and thirteen.

The ground here is cracked and shattered, slightly blackened, and Larxene is standing looking down at it. Her shoulders are slumped and the air lacks the tension it's had for some time. Her anger has drained away, clearly.

Marluxia approaches.

She glances up, then looks down again at the ground. "Marluxia."

"Larxene."

"...Can we really do this?" she asks.

He blinks at her mildly. "...Of course we can."

Larxene kneels down, puts one hand to the shattered floor. She says, "Are we even supposed to be _alive_ right now?"

Marluxia doesn't sigh. He says, "Of course we're not."

She's silent for a moment after that, then starts to laugh. "You know," she says. "You really are an ass."

Slowly, he walks beside her and, greatly daring, drops a hand on her shoulder. It's soft under his touch, exhausted. "I suppose that's sometimes the case," he allows.

Another sharp laugh and she shifts, sitting cross-legged. He takes his seat beside her, watching her face.

Her lips twist in his general direction. "And how are we going to do this?" she asks. "Do you have some kind of plan, Mr. Leader?"

"Ah, well," he says. "In a way."

"That means no."

"That means," he says with great dignity, "that it's not fully formed yet and I'm simply reluctant to state it until I've worked out the little details."

"Sure," Larxene says, flat and amused. "Okay."

He touches her cheek.

Larxene sighs at him heavily, resigned somehow, then leans in and kisses him. Her lips are soft, remarkably non-violent for her, quiet and accepting and tired and he can understand that really. He kisses back slow, soft, suckling gently on her lower lip.

The moment their lips separate she moves closer again, presses her lips to his, bites at his mouth with less sting than usual, presses her tongue between his lips. He makes a soft non-noise that hangs pale in the air until she swallows it from him, pushes with her hands until he lies back on the fractured floor, the noise of the broken marble like glass grinding under his coat, and she drapes herself over him, reaches beneath herself to get clothing undone and down just enough.

He runs his hands slowly down the angles of her back and while he can't really work up any real enthusiasm for the matter, it nevertheless feels for the moment quite pleasant to be alive.

  
 **Home is Where...**

Sora tracks him down eventually and waits until Marluxia gives up on ignoring him. "Okay, Marly," Sora says. "What's wrong?"

"...What do you mean?"

"I don't know how much time's passed," Sora says. "But it feels like a long time. ....And you grabbed me in a big hurry, right? So what happened?"

Marluxia rubs his hands together. He says, "I'm simply taking some time to plan."

Sora squints at him suspiciously. "No you're not," he decides.

"...Yes, I --"

"No, you think you are," Sora says. "But you're delaying, aren't you? Look, if you want to plan, I'm okay with that," he adds, then rubs the back of his head uncomfortably. "But umm. If you're gonna take a while, can I go home in the meantime?"

Marluxia puts a hand against a white wall. "What's home?"

"Destiny Islands," Sora says promptly.

Marluxia shakes his head. "Not that," he says. "What makes them home. Other than being born there?"

Sora has the vague suspicion that either he's being tested or Marluxia's testing himself. He crosses his arms, taps a foot. "It's home," he says. "Because it's where I belong."

Marluxia nods, slowly. "We are not," he says, "as Nobodies, home on most worlds. They reject us."

"The people? C'mon, Marly, some people--"

"No," Marluxia says. "Yes, the people too, of course, but the worlds themselves. The worlds themselves have hearts, and they deny us with every aspect of their being. We can walk on it but each step is a reminder that we do not belong. It is a slight inability to fit, a discomfort, a --"

"Okay," Sora says. "...Sorry."

Marluxia nods, quietly. "The World that Never Was was different," he says. "Not because I loved it; I found it rather abysmal. But it is as we are; something that has never managed to make it from the state of non-being into being. There were always problems, but we never needed to war with the world itself to exist."

"There were always Heartless," Sora says. "Right? There were a lot when I got there."

"Yes," Marluxia says. "But at a level we could manage. I didn't look around, Sora; I don't know what happened. But something caused a flood of enough heartless to fill up many worlds. They'll start spilling over into the others, soon, abandoning our empty world to find worlds with hearts to take."

"That's what I'm here for," Sora says. "No insult, because I'm sure you're a great fighter, but I can take 'em. Besides, if it's your home, you should be fighting anyway."

Marluxia nods. "Yes," he says, but still sounds vaguely frustrated. "I know."

"Then why'm I still here, Marluxia?" Sora asks. "Shouldn't we get going?"

Marluxia says, "Can I ask a favor, Sora?"

Sora considers for a long moment, stroking his chin, then nods, tucks his arms behind his head. "Sure," he says. "What is it?"

"There's a locked room at the top of the thirteenth floor," Marluxia says. "Can you unlock it for me?"

"I guess," Sora says. "What's in it?"

Marluxia closes his eyes. "My garden," he says.

"Cool," Sora says. "Why's it locked?"

*

He spends a long time in there. Sora watches the door Marluxia had closed behind himself and after some time Larxene flickers into existence beside him.

"Is he in there?" she asks.

Sora nods. "I dunno what he's doing."

She sighs. "He's an idiot," she says. "What's he doing, dwelling on something like that?"

"Gonna go in after him?" Sora asks, giving her a bit of a grin.

Larxene lifts a brow at him. "What's that look for, shorty?"

"I'm going to grow," he protests. "Anyway, it's just that you two are like this, right?" He lifts his pinky.

She looks amused. "Where'd you learn that, anyway?"

"Riku does it sometimes? Anyway," Sora says. "You're worried about him, so why not?"

"You don't know anything," she says, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry about it, kid."

"I'm not that young! Come on," he says. "If you weren't gonna, why're you here?"

Larxene shrugs. "He's like that," she says after a moment. "Even if he hates being alone he'll do it sometimes. Just to face things on his own. It's what he's like, so why worry about it?"

Sora says, "He hates being alone?"

"None of your business, is it?"

He makes a face at her, then waits. After some time he says, "You're still here, though."

"Shut up, Sora," Larxene says.

  
*

He comes out eventually and gives them both a surprised look. "Didn't you have anything better to do?" he asks mildly.

Larxene clears out her ear with her pinky. "Maybe we were waiting for a plan already, Marluxia."

"We go in from the top," Marluxia says, lightly. "If we can restore the levels of seals Xemnas had in place, we can at least clear the area down to the Proof of Existence and hold those. From there, we negotiate with the witch. Sora, as you know her, I expect you to do the work here."

"Um," Sora says. "...Okay."

"I presume she has a limited amount of control over the Heartless," Marluxia says. "Either she works with us or we take control, at which point the Heartless will at least be moderately obedient; enough for us to continue clearing the castle downwards as we go. By we I mean you, Sora; we need to guarantee they won't simply form again. One we have the castle clear, we seal the entryway."

Larxene nods. "Then it's up to our Keyblade Master to start getting to work on the Dark City itself, huh?"

Marluxia smiles. "Yes," he says. "While we simply guide the hearts he liberates."

Sora wrinkles his nose. "...It's really okay to gather them?"

"They gather naturally, Sora," Marluxia says. "We'll simply direct their location." He looks at Sora, and Sora blinks at him, alarmed; Marluxia doesn't look superior, just tired. "We agreed on this before; have you changed your mind?"

Sora bites his lower lip, then shakes his head. "Nah," he says. "It's not harming anyone, right? Anyway, it's gotta be better for them than being stuck inside some Heartless."

Marluxia smiles. "Yes," he says. "Are you ready? We should move out."

"Sure," Larxene says, picking under her nails with some knives. "Any time."

"Yeah, okay," Sora says. "You're ready too?"

Marluxia tosses his hair back and, for a moment, the air fills with flower petals, which Sora swats away with one hand. "Of course," he says, beaming benevolently. "It's time to get going, isn't it?"

  
 **Aftermath**

The gate lets them off onto the platform -- Sora can't remember the name; Naught's something. Altar? -- and he jumps out swinging, keyblade slicing through shadows.

Just as well as he did because Marluxia and Larxene have both stopped to stare up with expressions of something like horror.

"Oh God," Larxene chokes out, thickly.

Marluxia makes a strange, pained noise, and reaches a hand up towards the gutted moon hanging over the city, glowing still with a miasmic violet light.

Sora looks over. "Some help here!" he calls.

It seems to snap them out of it and they throw themselves into supporting Sora with a pretty amazing amount of gusto.

*

They get the platform clear, though shadows are still piled up in the doorway, trying to force their way through. Marluxia raises some kind of shield -- it won't last, he warns Sora, so rest up now and be prepared.

And then they turn to look again.

"When you said," Marluxia says, finally, "that Kingdom Hearts was destroyed, I didn't think to see -- this."

"Yeah," Sora says. "Um... I mean, it seemed like the right thing at the time?"

"The hearts raining down," Marluxia murmurs. "It must have looked like some kind of miracle at first. But no wonder there are so very many Heartless now."

Sora's shoulders start to hunch a little.

"All those hearts," Larxene says. "Huh, and you put so much work into freeing them in the first place. That's gotta be so many worlds full right there."

"Dusks danced in the streets," Marluxia murmurs to her. "He told me--"

"But we can fix it now," Sora says, leaning in and grabbing their shoulders. "Right? We can!"

Marluxia seems to shake himself, and Larxene glances at him and Sora, up to the moon, then sighs.

"Well," Larxene says, dryly. "We can make a start at it."

*

Sora finishes his drink and looks at the straining barrier. "Okay," Sora says. "I think I can begin again."

Marluxia nods. "All right. I'll just--"

"Hey," Sora says. "I mean. Even if it was a mistake. DiZ was doing the best he could, you know?"

Larxene says, "Yeah, but for who?"

Sora's brows draw down. "That's not fair! I mean, just-- You didn't like Xemnas either!"

"No," Marluxia agrees.

"...Sorry," Sora says. "I know. Just..."

Marluxia leans over him, puts a hand on Sora's shoulder, squeezes. "I need to bring the barrier down," he says, almost gently.

Sora nods. "Right," he says, and raises the keyblade to ready.

  
 **The Reinforcements**

"Ready?" Marluxia says.

"As I'll ever be." Larxene has been doing this elaborate series of stretches, which weirds Sora out because he didn't know Nobodies could _get_ stiff.

"Sora?"

He draws a slow breath in. "Next room's big, right?"

"Yes."

"...I'm ready," he says, and raises the keyblade.

He throws himself into the group of Heartless as they start to spill through when Marluxia's barrier comes down. Marluxia and Larxene's support is helpful, at least; Larxene's bolts leave the Heartless stunned before he can get there, and Marluxia does just enough damage to not quite kill them. It makes it go a lot faster to get down from the opening and onto the first platform in that great hall. Behind them, Marluxia throws up a barrier; it cuts off their escape, sure, but it leaves the area they just came from clear.

"Okay," Sora says, muttering low, and swings.

There's a strange sound at the edge of his hearing which he can't quite make out, but he can't pay attention to it while he's knee deep in Heartless trying to eat him. He swings, jumps into the air, tosses the keyblade around in a tight circle before catching it and landing again. It barely gives him a moment before they're around him again.

And then a flash of a different colour, of pale violet and he twists towards the new threat. He knows this one, from this area, like the back of his hand; leaps over the twisting clear cubes -- right now they're just blocking his way but in a moment they'll be lashing out at him -- swings the keyblade hard and fast--

Marluxia's scythe comes up close and hits with a resounding crash. Sora falls back, almost lands on his ass in a pile of Heartless. He glares. "What the hell was that f--"

"Fight _them_ ," Marluxia shouts. "Not us!"

The Sorceror behind him twists and shifts, catching Heartless and crushing them between its cubes and Sora stares for a moment before Marluxia leans down, takes Sora's shoulders in a firm but careful grip, and turns Sora to face the Heartless again.

"Oh, right," Sora says, and comes out swinging.

It's hard, though, as they clear their way down. The whine of a Sniper's laser on the next platform has Sora moving to slap it back and it takes a lot of will to let the snipe go, taking out a row of Shadows. He feels like it's hard to breathe, between the twisting airborne dance of the Sorceror, the way the Sniper circles, hops to a better position, and begins to take aim again. It's all wrong, and his hand is white-knuckled on the Keyblade, sweaty. When a Dusk pulls itself down from the air and hops about him in a little dance, he does swing again and manages to stop himself with the Keyblade hovering inches from the Dusk's impassive shadowed face. The Dusk's head tilts and then it does a little dance away, sweeping through the Heartless nearby, bound and sharpened hands tearing through darkness like wet paper.

Sora hears himself make a sound and shakes his head, tries to focus.

It doesn't take as long as they expected, and Marluxia throws up another barrier, dropping the one behind him. He's shaking with effort.

"Hey, Marly, man," Sora says, and manages to convince his hands to let go of the Keyblade. "Go take some rest okay? You don't look so good."

Marluxia pulls himself up. "I'm fine," he says coolly, and approaches. Sora turns when he passes, sees the scattered and few Nobodies line up and bow before him.

"--Hey, um," he says. "Look, I don't want to cause trouble, but weren't you a traitor to the Organization? Why are they--"

Larxene laughs, sharp, and drops a hand on Sora's shoulder. A knife, still clutched between her fingers, scores him faintly and he winces, glares. She doesn't seem to notice. "The Organization is dead," she says. "But they still need leadership. It's not the sort of time when any of us can play petty little games about right or wrong."

"Oh," Sora says. He looks back at the Nobodies and tries to force himself to remember that like Marluxia and Larxene, there's people in there. "Hi," he says. "Sorry about that, I just--"

They seem to glance at him, and then gather about Marluxia as Marluxia bends towards them.

"...Are they talking?" Sora asks. "About, um, me?"

Larxene quirks a brow down at him. "Not about you," she says, dryly.

"--But they are talking?"

"Yeah," Larxene says. "About us."

  
 **Moment's Respite**

Breaking through into the Proof of Existence is a relief, of course; it was a long way down through the previous two rooms and the areas took a long time to clear. There are still Heartless swarming this room, though less.

But Marluxia and Larxene stop dead in their tracks.

"C'mon," Sora says. "We have to--"

Larxene starts to say something; Marluxia shakes his head, grim, and they continue on, as Sora tries to ignore the flickers of white and the urge to swing in on the Nobodies closing in around. There are others -- some Dusks, a surviving Dancer, a Berserker, two Samurai --combing the previous two rooms, searching for anything that might have been missed.

When they get it clear, Sora stretches, doing a little victory jump. "We did it!"

Marluxia slumps against the barrier he's just erected and says, quiet, "Sora. This place."

"Huh?"

"Did you do this?"

Sora looks around; a moment later it dawns. "You mean like how it's all broken up? No -- it was like this when I got here."

"Ah," Marluxia says. He rests his weight heavily on his scythe, taps it dangerously out on the ground as he walks over to the square at the front right and sits down heavily in front of it.

Sora follows, concerned; it's pretty clear Marluxia's been tired through a lot of this but he's not let himself collapse before, not really, especially not in front of the Dusks who're starting to come in from their search, are swaying rhythmically in the doorway.

"Hey, Marluxia--"

"Eh," Larxene says, and walks over. She's tired too, a bit bent over, standing beside Marluxia and looking down at that square. "Let him be."

Sora frowns. "But he's--"

"Shut it, Sora," she says. She looks down, puts her foot on the square in front of her.

Blue bleeds back into it, the red slowly seeping away.

"Oh," Sora says. And then, suddenly understanding, " _Oh_."

She pokes at the doorway part, ripped off and thrown on the floor behind it, then sighs. "No fixing this," she says. "Not going anywhere. Marluxia--"

There isn't even that of his. Wherever his doorway had been, it's long gone; a few inches only remain jutting above the ground. The rest of it is gone. Carted away, maybe; ground into gravel, perhaps; there's some fragments of something beside it, though it could as easily be from Larxene's as Marluxia's.

Marluxia says, "It's gone."

"Yeah, well," Larxene says, and rubs the back of her head, rolling her eyes hard. "Whoever did this did a pretty thorough job. No point crying about it."

He gives her a look, sarcastic, exhausted, entirely dry-eyed, but she seems to relax. He strips a glove off, revealing an unpleasantly pale hand, and presses it to the tile; that, at least, is whole.

It glows blue after a long moment.

"Well," Marluxia says. "At least we've got a safe locale set up. Sora--"

He tries to rise and starts to fall again. Sora moves, catches Marluxia around the middle, feels him tense and attempt to move back, but doesn't let go.

"You're not doing so good," Sora said. "Is it the barriers?"

"Something like that," Marluxia agrees, dryly.

"Because Larxene's doing better--"

"Yeah, because I can go stick myself in a Thundaga and feel great," Larxene says, sharply. "Don't think I've not been doing my share."

Sora gives her a disgruntled expression. "I didn't say that! Marluxia, you have to rest, okay?"

Marluxia shoves him off, staggers upright. "I'm fine," he says, sharply. "Now, the next thing we have to--"

Sora grabs him again, reaches up to get his shoulders, and moves until he's thrown Marluxia down, settled against him to pin him there against his square, Marluxia's back pressed to the jagged edge of his headstone before reaching the gentle slope behind him. "That's stupid," Sora says. "If you keep working when you're like this, it'll just -- not work! You have to--" He looks around, catches sight of the Dusks, and stares at them. "Make him sleep!"

The Dusks shift uneasily. One starts to gambol over.

"I can't," Marluxia says.

"You can too!" Sora says. "And don't try to say that Nobodies can't, I know ROXAS can--"

"It won't help," Marluxia says, sharply. "It's rest, certainly, and lets the tensions ebb, but it's not rejuvenative, it won't--"

"Do it anyway," Sora orders. "Maybe -- maybe the two open rooms don't have a bed or anything, but you can sleep here, right?"

Marluxia's cheeks go red. "Sora, you can't just--"

"It's okay," Sora says. "We'll watch over you."

"Yeah, about that," Larxene says. "...At least stick him in a corner or something."

Marluxia glares at her. "Larxene," he says. "As leader, I--"

"Chill out," Sora says. "Everyone here's wanting you to help them. If you need to rest, they'll let you. Right?" He looks over at the Dusks.

They glance between each other again, and then fan out to guard the entrances, apparently resigned.

"You idiot," Marluxia mutters.

"Sorry for being an idiot," Sora says, and sits back on Marluxia's legs. "Now. No more arguing, okay?"

"Fine," Marluxia mutters, and shifts over. "Fine, I understand."

He tries to ignore it when Larxene whistles approvingly.

  
 **Leader of Men**

So far, there's been neither hide nor hair of Maleficient in sight, but it's only a matter of time before she came to investigate the area that had entered lock-down. From there, if they were able to handle it, according to Marluxia, they could start clearing the rest of the castle.

But in the meantime there's some time to spare, and they've been getting to work patching up the doors they can. Marluxia's is hopeless, and Larxene's isn't likely, but they've focused their energy on Roxas's, on rebuilding the top arch - the only part broken -- and after some time had passed the light thickens and Sora passes a hand through.

"Oh hey," he says, pleased. "Look at this."

"You can sleep there," Marluxia offers. "It's practically yours to begin with."

"Oh," Sora says. "Uhh. Yeah, I guess so. Is there a -- is there a bed?"

Marluxia shrugs. "Roxas liked to collect things," he says vaguely. "There might be."

Sora sticks his head in. "...Well, the couch'll do," he says, relieved.

Larxene's brows raise. "Roxas had a couch? Lucky bastard."

"Can't you just get ones of your own? If you want them," Sora asks.

Larxene shrugs. "Eh, something like that. Xemnas had this aesthetic he liked to stick to."

"Well," Marluxia says. "Roxas was his pet Keyblade master, after all."

Sora shifts uncomfortably. "Guys, can you maybe not--"

He's interrupted by a number of Nobodies teleporting in. Samurai all of them, and he jumps back in surprise at the closest one appearing within several feet of him. Their helmets turn to him briefly, then back to Marluxia.

Marluxia tilts his head, apparently listening. "I see," he says. "Any more in the area?"

"What's going on?" Sora asks.

Larxene shrugs. "The survivors have been hanging out where they can," she says. "Digging them out of whatever hiding places they've found for themselves in the inbetween will take some time. That one--" she nods to one, "has been trying to find the other members of its unit."

"Unit?"

"Well," she says, sarcastically. "This _was_ a war of a sort."

Marluxia has finished nodding, and then looks. "Larxene," he says. "There's more gathered on the Altar of Naught."

"Gotcha," she says, and starts to walk away.

The Samurai do not follow. Instead they turn to Sora and, as one, sink into a bow.

"Uh," Sora says. He tries to catch Larxene, but she snaps her sleeve away. "Hey, a little help here?"

"Oh no," Larxene says, lightly. "If they want to be serving you; don't go asking me for help or you'll just look bad."

"I don't even know what they're saying!" Sora protests, half-panicked.

She smirks, winks at him, tosses a kiss as she goes. "Oh," she says. "I'm sure you'll figure out something."

Sora turns back frantically to the Samurai. They look expectant somehow.

He clears his throat. "Um," he says, finally. "Hi?"


End file.
